1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rectifier controller which is used to control conduction controlled rectifiers connected to provide a direct current voltage source for an inverter that is used, in turn, to generate a pulse code signal utilized in utility load management systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a rectifier and inverter system described in an article entitled "Pulse Coded Inverter For Utility Load Management System," by James H. Galloway and Alby M. Berman in the IAS 1977 Annual published by the I.E.E.E., the rectifier used to supply direct current to the inverter silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRs) is of a conventional design. This rectifier supplies current to the direct current bus without any provision for removing the direct current bus voltage during a condition of shoot-through in the inverter SCRs, and without any means to rapidly respond to circuit conditions in the load. This conventional rectifier merely gates the rectifier SCRs in accordance with the three-phase input voltages.
The conventional rectifier is basically an analog device, and is not compatible with systems which utilize digital microprocessor control techniques.